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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: march · kid · pass · straw · saw · coach · bank · degree

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  11. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. kid — to tease
  3. bank — of a river
  4. saw — the tool
  5. march — music
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. saw — the tool
  10. pass — to succeed
  11. bank — for money
  12. march — the month
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. bank — for money
  15. march — the month
  16. degree — an amount
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. pass — a permit
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. pass — to spend time
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. degree — temperature
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. kid — child

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com